Food & Wine

Cheap eats – Indo Cafe (Civic)

The Indo is a bit of an institution. It has been around for years and at peak lunch hours you will always see a line out the door.

Located in the quadrangle under the Waldorf Hotel, it’s a poky place that discourages eat in. Driven purely by the takeaway trade, the staff are happy and pleasant, which makes the experience that little bit brighter.

I rocked up on a cold and windy day and chose the $10 lunch special – curry + side + drink. There are loads of options to choose from including the Semur (Sweet Soy Pepper with chicken or beef), Tahu Campur (Tofu & seasonal vegetable stir fry) and Red Curry. I went with the red curry with a corn fritter on the side.

Lunch is presented in a nifty container separating the curry and the rice. I have been to Indo on many a cold lunchtime and loved it. Sadly, I was a bit let down on the day of the review. Although the fritter was soft and tasty, the rice was gluggy and pasty and the red curry (normally rich and full of flavour) was milky and tasteless.

This was a real shame. I would still recommend Indo for Cheap Eats as previous experience tells me it was probably an off day. I would be interested to hear about your own experiences.

This is the last of the current series. Next week we will be launching a Business Lunch Series with great places to go have a private business lunches without totally blowing the budget.

James is our newest RiotACT contributor and enjoys good food of all sorts along with deep water diving, spear fishing and anything water related. When he’s not writing or on/in the water he works for a non for profit.